jong-un. president obama promises to pursue strong action. the u.n. council has scheduled an emergency meeting for later this morning. fugitive chris dorner is on the run from los angeles. the former lapd cop has been officially charged with killing police michael crane in riverside last thursday. dorner is also suspected in two other deaths which authorities believe are revenge killings from being fired from the police force five years ago. a large "wanted" billboard featuring dorner's pictures are now up in southern cal. there's a $1 million reward for information leading to his capture. null meanwhile, in chicago a manhunt has ended and two men have been charged in the shooting death of 15-year-old hadiya pendleton. 18-year-old michael ward and kenneth williams face charges of murder, attempted murder and aggravated battery. police say they open fire on

hadiya and her friends in a chicago park last month just days after she performed with her school at president obama's inauguration. officials say the shooting was a tragic case of mistaken identity. >> michael ward has confessed and indicated that hadiya was not the intended target. in fact, the offenders had it all wrong. they thought the group they shot into included members of a rival gang. >> first lady michelle obama attended the teen's funeral on saturday. hadiya pendleton's parents will be among the first lady's special guests at this evening's state of the union address. president obama is expected to detail his plans for reducing gun violence. nbc's tracie potts joins us live from washington with more. as we know, it could be one of a dozen things the president brings up. >> reporter: absolutely. including immigration and a number of other things. one of the big things he'll focus on is money. particularly the $85 billion in

automatic cuts coming in just a few weeks. tonight instead of focusing on how budget cuts would affect the pentagon, we're told president obama will focus on the middle class. cuts to headstart, research and thousands of government jobs. >> his emphasis on the needs to continue jobs or have our manufacturing sector expand, that work isn't done. >> reporter: in the audience tonight the parent of a slain chicago teenager who had just marched in the inaugural parade, underscoring the president's gun control. the president is expected to address immigration reform, a move that may have more impact outside washington. >> the goal is to move public opinion because that's what moves congress. >> reporter: lawmakers and former lawmakers on both sides say his clear focus must be the budget. >> if we don't get it under control fairly soon, and have congress and the president lead us in this area, then we will end up with a nation that is

insolvent. >> reporter: republicans are already criticizing what happens after tonight's speech. president obama hits the road, three cities in three days to push his agenda. >> mr. president, if you're truly worried about this issue, why aren't you working with congress that we elected to prevent it? >> reporter: we'll likely hear more about that, richard, tonight. republican response being delivered by florida senator marco rubio. >> super bowl-like speech tonight. tracie potts, thank you. also brian williams and the entire nbc team will have complete coverage of president obama's state of the union and the republican reply as well. stick around for that. many around the world are still stunned this morning by pope benedict's surprise announcement he's giving up the pa papacy. a papal abdication has not happened in six centuries. it's creating shock waves even from the sky. "the guardian" newspaper showing lightning hitting st. peter's basilica.

chris jansing is in rome this morning. good morning to you. >> reporter: good morning, richard. there's a lot of speculation here about what that lightning strike means. i can't give you any inside information but the other big speculation, of course, is who will succeed pope benedict. this is something we have not seen since the middle ages. how do you choose a pope when there's one still living? there's a very different church than we saw even eight years ago, and certainly three decades ago when john paul ii was elected. this is a church that is very heavily in latin america. about 42% of catholics are in latin america now. they're growing as well in africa. only 25% in europe, but more than half of the cardinals who will come here to vatican city and who will announce a new pope are from europe. so, here's the big question. will there be a different kind of pope? there are candidates from latin america, some are talking about america's timothy dolan but most

talk has been on cardinal from nigeria. we're still waiting to hear exactly when that conclave will take place. >> chris, you were there eight years ago when pope benedict was chosen. now there as he abdicates. chris jansing live in rome. turning to weather, some connecticut residents are still digging out from this weekend's big weekend. hamden they cleared 3 feet of snow. some are upset secondary roads were not plowed but the heavy snowfall overwhelmed city work cruise. the storm is blamed for 18 deaths in the u.s. and canada. speaking of weather, let's go now to bill karins, nbc meteorologist. so much to watch over the last four days. >> it looks like another possible storm in the east coast this upcoming weekend. everything else around the country looking okay. we got a little snowstorm this morning in north texas kicking out of new mexico. we're also going to watch some of that heavier rain in areas of

oklahoma this morning. otherwise, many areas of the intermountain west and west coast are looking just fine. let me give you a little tour. high pressure kind of cool temperatures over nevada and utah and also down to northern arizona. but we're just fine this morning with clear skies in san francisco and l.a. vegas, clear skies, 36. cold air mass. 46 in portland. 45 in seattle. today's forecast looks just fine. a few showers in the northwest. just like yesterday, if you get hit you consider yourself very unlucky. the west coast usually more quiet. alaska is active with light snow there. we'll see 1 or 2 inchs . cooler air moved in.

tucs tucson, only at 55 today. even hawaii is looking pretty nice. you can take your choice of good weather in the west. >> if i could only be in hawaii. thank you. home prices are rising, 10% year over year. conditions for the 4,000 passengers stranded aboard that carnival cruise ship are getting diceyer by the day. best in show, the pampered pure breds trotting past p inting pr prognosticators.

welcome back. other stories making news this morning. nearly 600 homes were destroyed or damaged after this massive tornado ripped across mississippi. miraculously no one was killed in the storm but dozens were injured. talk about sea sickness, passengers in a stranded cruise ship in the gulf of mexico report limited access to hot coffee, food and bathrooms. the ship lost power over the

weekend and will be towed to a port to alabama by the weekend. a federal judge has overturned arizona's attempt to block funding for planned parenthood. the judge says the law robs individuals on medicaid of the ability to choose health care services. the former navy s.e.a.l. shot and killed at a gun range earlier this month is laid to rest. nearly 7,000 people attended the service for chris kyle near dallas at cowboy stadium. his widow told mourners he was a devoted husband, father and friend who will never be forgotten. the u.s. has another honor recipient, president obama presented the medal to staff sergeant to clint romesha. for bravery during a 2009 attack in afghanistan. even his young son got in on the action with his proud dad there. and an american foxhound, white bichon frise are moving forward at westminster dog show. the best of the sporting, working and terrier groups will be picked tonight. we'll see what the mood is

like on the street tonight ahead of the president's state of the union address. apple's ceo tim cook will have a front row seat, sitting in the first lady's box this morning. he has a tech conference of his own. british bark barclays is slashing 3700 jobs from its corporate and investment arms. on the earnings deck keep an eye on michael kors. expectations are high for the affordable luxury brand after the first full year of public trading. whiskey connoisseurs beware. due to a surge in demand for maker's mark, the kentucky bourbon is being watered down from 45% to 42% alcohol. maybe folks will drink more. american express is letting card holders make purchases via twitter, with free shipping and registration is required. developer korean air

unveiling the $1 billion, 73-story masterpiece which will be known as the willshire grand with a hotel, office space, residences, restaurants and much more. good news for home sales. median prices climbed by 10% last year to $178,900. demand appears to be good for pepsi's new morning drink, kickstart, a juiced up mt. dew. it ran out of free samples. straight ahead, a tv station gets hacked by a zombie apocalyp apocalypse. what's going on between lindsey vonn and golf's tiger woods? details next.

now to some other stories that caught our eye this morning. in san diego, iconic 1945 photo of a sailor kigs a nurse at the end of the world war ii is being revived. the 25-foot, 15,000 pound statue of the kiss is being built and transported to san diego where it will be installed along the water front in the next few days. elsewhere in california, the atlas v rocket has a smooth trip to outer space delivering a satellite that will orbit 14 times a day around earth to monday store forest fires and

shrinking glaciers. and finally to montana where hackers tapped into one tv station and caused quite a stir over a zombie apocalypse alert over a talk show. take a listen. >> authorities in your area have reported that the bodies of the dead are arising from their graves and attacking the living. >> believable? the station quickly pulled the alert and apologized to viewers for that. turning to sports, now to college basketball, number 14 kansas hosted rival number 10 kansas state. ben mcnamara scored 30 points and kansas overwhelmed kansas state 83-62. michael vick signed a one-year deal worth $10 million to stay with the philadelphia eagles. in baseball, pitchers and catchers are reporting for spring training. boston red sox former mvp dustin pedroia was already out fielding ground balls. it's that time, do you believe it? international olympic committee announced it's

dropping wrestling from summer olympics 2020, leading room for another sport. lindsey vonn posting post op picture after surgery on her knee. she was reportedly flown to colorado on tiger woods' private jet. but he continues to deny any rumors they're dating. golden state warriors will debut new short sleeved yellow jerseys making them the first modern era nba team to play in something other than tank top. here's an amazing shot you won't see very often. colorado high school basketball player annie olson throwing a shot almost the entire length of the court here. it bounced once and went in the basket. it was ruled a loose ball so it only counted for two points. still looks great on tape. >> announcer: "early today" sports is brought to you by touch of gray. get rid of some gray, never all. just ahead for you, don

johnson's $19 million payday. plus a grammy gatecrasher is sent packing by j. lo next.

welcome back. it's a very quiet weather day in many areas of the west. we like to take a look at hawaii. trade wind showers going through but a typical, nice day. temperatures 70s, upper 80s. honolulu, mostly sunny skies,

79. the west, quiet, more clouds but most spots will be dry. >> thanks a lot, bill karins. turning to entertainment. nbc has officially been branded. g-4 cable channel the esquire channel. it's geared to the upwardly mobile highly engaged man like bill. actor don johnson of "miami vice" fame and also starred in cop drama "gnash bridges "is $19 million richer. he settled a pay dispute with the show's producers claiming he was entitled to 50% of the show's profits even though the show went off the air years ago. >> he owes his lawyers a lot. >> 25% of that 50%. popular car show "top gear" has shown a corvette racing a helicopter with the chopper losing control and smashing to the ground. crew members get out of the way. adele's big grammy winner was notable for more than one

reason. a man crashed the stage, and j. lo handled it as well as she could. she gave the man the look and, like, get out of here. don't cross j. lo with her leg. grammy scored huge ratings with 28.4 million viewers tuning in, second highest rating in 20 years ago. this comes from denver, colorado, where one 17-year-old's wish for life may have been granted by a special hand. after being diagnosed with stage four hodgkin's lymphoma, the make-a-wish foundation granted peter surich his one wish, to meet the pope. pope benedict placed his hand over the chest where the tumor was, blessed him, a year later, cancer-free, he says the pope's humility is pushing him to become an ordained priest

himself. i'm richard lui and this is "early today," just your first stop of the day today on your nbc station.

let the good times roll. we're talking about mardi gras. it's fat tuesday in the big eastcy and thousands have blocked to new orleans to take part in the annual tradition of mardi gras on the final day before lent begins. jay gray joins us live from bourbon street. i'm going to throw on some beads in honor of your report.

go for it. >> reporter: are you sure you're there? i swear i saw you on bourbon street 30 minutes ago. take a look at bourbon street. the magic of tv. the street crews have come through and tried to clean up. that's the only thing that broke up the crowd. it was packed here all night into the early morning hours. still a few folks out and about, finishing up lundi gras, the night before fat tuesday. there's always a strong police presence so that's the good news. the forecast hasn't been good throughout the festival season. that's been canceled or postponed a couple of the parades. the good news the parade starts in about an hour or so. when you talk to the hotel owners, they say the forecast hasn't chased the crowd off. maybe selling a few ponchos but still plenty of beads. that's the latest from finally a bit quieter french quarter. richard, back to you.

enjoy mardi gras. >> thank you so much. bill karins told us when it comes to new orleans, the forecast is always fun, right? time now for an early look ahead at stories making news this tuesday without the beads. senate will hold a final vote on broadening the reach of the violence against women act. today's vote likely to pass by a wide margin, gives tribal courts powers to prosecute nonindians who assault indian women on reservations. also on the senators' agenda, democrats are pushing ahead with a vote on chuck hagel's nomination to be defense secretary. despite threats of a gop walkout. at least five republicans have indicated they would provide enough votes needed to block a threatened filibuster. and on this day in history, a historic birth. the united states' 16th president and subject of steven spielberg's oscar nominated film "lincoln" was born on february 12, 1809. you can stay on top of those stories and the best political

analysis on msnbc. tonight watch "nbc nightly news" with brian williams. here's what's coming up on the "today" show. the vatican's next plans to elect the next pope and the candidates. tom brokaw takes an insider look at a group pushing back against tighter gun control. keep this-t on this station for more news, weather, sports and more. more news, weather, sports and more. i'm richard [ female announcer ] now get high speed internet at home on our newly expanded advanced digital network, a connection you can count on. at&t u-verse high speed internet offers more speed options, reliability and wi-fi hotspots than ever. go to our website below to get u-verse high speed internet for just $14.95 a month for 12 months with a one-year price guarantee. it's all the speed you need all at a great price. our newly expanded advanced digital network gives you more of what you enjoy online. and with at&t, our wireless gateway turns your home into a private wi-fi hotspot that connects your wi-fi devices

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against proposition 8. >> right now, let's take you outside. live. this is from the south bay. that's a look over san jose. a few hours before the sun comes up. we're here to get you started on this tuesday, february 12th. this is "today in the bay." it is 4:30. good morning to one and all. i'm jon kelley. >> i'm laura garcia-cannon. lots to get to this morning. let's first check that forecast with meteorologist christina loren. good morning. >> good morning to you, jon and laura. good morning to you at home. it's a cold start to the day but if you liked what we finished off with yesterday, highs in the mid 60s, we've got more of the same in store for you today. 41 degrees right now in san francisco. you're at 41 degrees in san jose as well. cold enough for a jacket but you want to dress in layers because by this afternoon, unseasonably warm conditions and then we keep climbing. we'll take you through your full forecast in a few minutes. let's check your drive. good morning, mike. >> good morning. folks, we're looking at the golden gate bridge with